Quota students get raw deal

In the next DU session, the admission process for regular and reserved category may run simultaneously.

In the next DU session, the admission process for regular and reserved category students may run simultaneously. The varsity plans to declare first, second and third lists — much on lines of the system for general category students.

This they say will prevent manipulation by colleges, which many say, results in close to 1,000 seats remaining unoccupied every year. At present, SC/ST students are allocated seats and courses in colleges by the university, following which they have to secure admission within three days. Failing this, their admission lapses and they can't be offered a seat in the next academic year. The admission process also drags from July to October with students missing out on classes.

Many DU colleges use this loophole to prevent students from reserved categories from getting in. Last year alone, about 40 students approached the Dean Students' Welfare office complaining that the colleges they had been granted admission to by the university were not admitting them.

DU dean students' welfare S K Vij says action is taken against colleges whenever a complaint comes up. "We try to accommodate everyone," he said. "Last year, SRCC declared that all SC/ST students seeking admission to the college will be dealt with only on one day. These hurdles are deliberately created to keep out students," said K S Saroya of the Ambedkar Students' Organisation, a body representing SC/ST students. The decision was reportedly withdrawn after protests at the college. The college, however, denies the charge. "We admitted students on all 97 reserved seats," said SRCC principal B C Jain.

There is no record of how many students drop out after being allocated courses they never applied for in the first place. Sources at DU accept that discouragement exists at colleges.

"The student is told to return after a few days. When the student returns, he is told the admission date is over. Others are told their papers are not in order. The university is merely told that a certain number of seats were vacant as the students never turned up," said a senior DU official. Many colleges even supply false information on the number of available seats to keep reserved category students out.

"There is discouragement as elite colleges are scared that influx of reserved category students will affect their results. But consider the impact if one poor SC student does well, the impact that it has on his community," said Pankaj Chaudhry, a reserved category student who is doing his LLB from DU.